Masks
by faceted-mind
Summary: Another Oneshot. What a surprise! This one after Hiei's first fight and his unfinished finishing move, 'Jaō Ensatsu Kokuryuha'


You know… I had the irrational urge to title this fic "Hiei's boo boo". It doesn't really cast the right tone, I know. This is an angsty gritty little ficlet. But still. Imagine little Hiei going to Kurama after his battle with a big pout and watery eyes and saying… "K'rama… the nasty dragon made it hurt, kiss it better!"

Ahem… Maybe not…

I don't know if Kurama has any power to heal, I remained decidedly vague on the matter. I've still not seen the second half of the series, so my knowledge is limited and I don't want to spoil anything, so I don't want to research. I do know he could tell pretty quickly what was wrong with the guys from Ichigachi Team's Master and concocted an antidote when the hospital could only offer expensive treatments. Maybe the hospital was in on it, or maybe it's a demon thing. Regardless… call it AU if you have real issues with anything Kurama says or does in this fic. Alternatively, flame me - I'm always happy to have my idiocy explained to me. :D

There's no more to this oneshot (hence the description…) but there may be more to this sequence. This whole series of events is so full of material…

---

---

"I've had worse," Hiei brushed off Kurama's questions bluntly. At least the bothersome fox knew enough not to confront his about this in front of the others; they had all disappeared from the communal living area into their respective rooms as soon as the self-congratulation was over. The last thing he needed was those two morons and their cluster of female admirers fussing over him as if he were a child.

"Worse? Do you even realise what you've done to yourself? Have you even had it looked at?" Kurama demanded. Hiei rounded on him, furious at his stupidity.

"What do you think I am? An idiot like those two out there? I'm not going to show my weaknesses to everyone who wants to come look at them." Now Kurama looked furious.

"It's your arm Hiei. Your dominant one. You fight with a katana… you can't tell me you're just going to brush this off."

"I need to rest. Worry about the idiot for tonight - he truly needs your concern. If he loses many more as he did today he won't have to worry about Toguro, he will be dead long before we face him."

"Chance was against him today, you know that as well as I do." He grasped Hiei's elbow before he could move away. "Don't think you can change the subject." Hiei flashed out of his reach with a growl. Kurama forced down the urge to growl back or to stamp his foot like a child. "Hiei… I…" Kurama began through gritted teeth, "I might be able to do something. Maybe not much… but…" Hiei strode into their room, scowling with all his might but perhaps - Kurama thought - with a little less tension in his shoulders. When he was sure the door was shut behind them, Hiei turned to Kurama and offered out his hand as if to shake.

"So do something." Kurama couldn't help noticing his hand was shaking, all on its own.

"Have you had anything to drink?" he asked quietly, taking the shorter man's elbow to steady the hand.

"Are you trying to offend me?" he growled in reply.

"Water, Hiei, fluids. You're in shock, it's unsurprising," he replied without looking up. Hiei's eyes widened.

"I am not!" He sounded so horrified Kurama was almost amused. Instead he just shook his head and took a better hold on Hiei's elbow, forcing himself to look at the result of Hiei's unfinished finishing attack. From his upper forearm to his fingertips his arm was the rough uneven black of scorched flesh, the fat layer beneath his skin exposed to the air and heavily charred. That layer - though thin - had been he only protection for the muscle and tissue underneath, and perhaps saved him from further damage as his yoki wrestled with the unyielding demon-fire dragon. But the heat had contracted the muscle and held it there, tight and unyielding, carving his hand into an agonising claw.

His heart wrenched at the sight, and he looked up to meet Hiei's snarl.

"Don't you cry over me," he growled.

"It shouldn't have been you." Hiei snorted.

"Ha. Who then? The idiot? Urameshi? They would have died where they stood. You? Wielding plants against flame? Or the little one perhaps? He has great strength and control - but against that? There was no one but me."

"You are enjoing not being the smallest, aren't you." Kurama teased absently, needing to lift the weight on his heart and not knowing how. "But I think there's not that much difference between you." He lied with a smile. "Maybe only the height of your hair." Parting Hiei's hair in the middle, Kurama pulled it down on either side of his face, raising an eyebrow at how normal it made him look - despite the third eye, glaring at him with just as much distain as the other two.

"Baiting me will get you nowhere." Kurama released the two handfuls of hair and they sprang back into place.

"Sorry." Gesturing that Hiei should sit down on the bed he quickly made tea and offered Hiei a cup. The demon looked at the cup as though it might bite him. "You need fluids to replace what was lost. It will stop you shaking."

"I'm not shaking," Hiei retorted, snatching up the cup anyway and drinking the tea gracelessly.

"You would deny your hair was black if you thought it would make you look stronger, or make you less weak." Sitting beside him, Kurama began to raise his yoki, calling Hiei's yoki and brushing their edges along each other, like greeting foxes. Hiei was almost scarily weak at his side, but his diminished yoki still twisted and teased around him as they touched. Settling in close, Kurama turned his attentions to Hiei's arm.

Trying to distract himself from the ache that was building under the intensity of Kurama's attention, Hiei observed Kurama's yoki and considered, as he often found himself doing, the strange duality of it. He had often wondered if Kurama knew about the second yoki that shadowed his own - a huge and quite intimidating force that he seemingly had no access to. Yoko Kurama had been a powerful ally, to find him so… diminished had been a blow. He wondered if the shadow of Yoko's power was as visible to Kurama as it was to him, and how much of an agony it must be to feel that power, remember it, and be unable to reach for it.

Though Kurama - the Shuichi form - had been infinitely better company than the often rough and temperamental Yoko, Hiei missed having such a fearsome companion at his back. Even more so now, as the competition could only get harder and he was getting nothing but weaker.

He choked back a scream as something deep within his forearm caught and pulled. Kurama had stepped back and was standing looking out of the window when Hiei's vision cleared of spots of black. He growled down the pain, shoving it roughly aside in his mind.

"Don't mask the pain too much, it will remind you not to use it," Kurama murmured, obviously distant. "Your arm isn't so badly damaged, you will have cramps as the muscle recovers but it will fully heal in time." Hiei waited for more, but none came. He looked down at his hand. Useless then.

Kurama looked back, desolate.

"Seems both of us are now less than we once were," he snorted. "It's an irony, isn't it? Considering what we both set out to do?"

"Power and glory," Hiei smirked. "We were young then."

"You more so than I," he sighed. "Sleep. You need the rest."

"Do you miss those times?" Hiei asked, ignoring the command. Kurama looked startled for a minute. "I hadn't. Not until you came to me. Not until I realised that what I have lost might cost me someone I care for. I don't miss the power or the glory. I don't miss the company we kept. I miss feeling like nothing can hurt those I love."

"What has the human realm done to you, Kurama?" Hiei teased, laying back on the bed and closing his eyes.

"It has made me whole." Kurama answered quietly, knowing Hiei was already fast asleep.


End file.
